KV46

Tjuyu's third coffin from KV62 (Cairo Museum)

Tomb KV46 in the Valley of the Kings is the tomb of Yuya and his wife Tjuyu, the parents of Queen Tiye, the wife of Amenhotep III, and King Ay, and grandparents of Nefertiti. It was discovered in February 1905 by James E. Quibell. Quibell was sponsored by Theodore M. Davis, who published an account of the excavation in 1907.

KV 46 consists of a staircase leading down to a further descending corridor and a unique burial chamber. The walls of the tomb are not decorated and were probably never meant to be: the walls are unplastered and were not smoothed.

Until the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, this was the richest and best preserved tomb found in the valley, and the first to be found with major items in situ apart from the Tomb of Kha or TT8 which was rather the tomb of an Egyptian nobleman. Located in a small branch of the main valley between two later Ramesside tombs, KV46 contained the mostly intact sarcophagi of Yuya and Tjuyu. Differences in the embalming techniques used for Yuya and Tjuyu indicates that they died at different times and were placed in the tomb accordingly. KV46 was robbed in antiquity, most probably three times: a first time shortly after the closure of the tomb, and then twice during the construction of the adjacent tombs KV3 and KV4. During the first looting, only perishable products such as oil were removed. The second and third times however the looters took most of the jewellery but were not able to remove Yuya and Tjuyu's funerary masks.

Isometric, plan and elevation images of KV46 taken from a 3d model

Objects found in KV46

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  Mummy mask of Tjuyu.

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  Mummy mask of Yuya.

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  Yuya's large outer coffin as discovered in 1905.

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  Second and inner coffins of Yuya.

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  Mummified entrail with cartonnage mask from KV46.

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  Blue enamelled and gold coffer from KV46 bearing the horus name, prenomen and nomen of Amenhotep III.

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  Gilded head to bedstead representing the God Bes.

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  Chair found in KV46.

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  Mummies of Yuya (left) and Tjuyu (right)

References

• Davis, Theodore M. The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou. London: Duckworth Press, 2000. ISBN 0-7156-2963-8

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to KV46.

• Theban Mapping Project: KV46 - Includes detailed map of the tomb.

Coordinates: 25°44′27″N 32°36′10″E / 25.740833°N 32.60278°E / 25.740833; 32.60278